Q My cottage was built in 1836 and extended more recently. The older parts are rendered and my husband used to paint them every four years with Sandtex masonry paint, which has been excellent.

My husband died three years ago and I now have to maintain the house myself. A house at the top of my road is having its walls coated by a company which has put the enclosed letter through my door, and I would appreciate your views on this type of wall coating.

It seems as though it is sort of sandblasted onto the walls and every door, pipe and window has been carefully covered up during the process. It all looks tempting, especially as I shall have to get someone to paint my walls now. What is your opinion?

A The leaflet that you have sent me is from a local wall coating company, and displays all the worst aspects of this kind of product. It claims to offer substantial discounts to “selected show properties” in your area, says that the coating is a “revolutionary breakthrough in exterior protection”, and offers a 15-year guarantee against chipping, peeling and flaking.

The leaflet bears the name and address of a company local to you, but this is almost certainly a franchise of a larger organisation. This local company has been operating for four years, but its director has previously run two other companies with similar names that are now dissolved, so the 15-year guarantee is likely to be meaningless.

The letter, and the company’s website, also make some extravagant claims, such as that the coating will insulate your walls against cold or heat, and increase the value of the property. These claims are clearly nonsense, and designed to extract money under false pretences from gullible home owners.

This must be a very difficult time for you, having recently lost your husband and having to grapple with the responsibility of maintaining your home. Unfortunately there are lots of people out there ready to take advantage of people like yourself, who might be in a vulnerable position.

I suggest that before you make any major decisions about the upkeep of your home you take advice from an experienced Chartered Building Surveyor, who will be able to tell you what really needs doing, and also assist in engaging reputable contractors to carry out the work. Call the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors on 0870 333 1600 (www.rics.org/findasurveyor).

Window safety

Q Having just had PVC-U windows installed, I asked why no restrictors were fitted on the lower windows (especially on the upper floor) as the window boards are only 500mm above the floor.

Building Regulations insist on the lower panes being toughened glass, but when the window is open there is nothing to stop a child from falling out due to the low cill. Only recently it was reported that there was a child who climbed out of a window and was only stopped from falling four storeys by being caught on the gutter. Surely there must be some regulation that insists on a restrictor being fitted?

RW, by email

A Yes, you are quite right. This is dealt with under Building Regulations Approved Document K2, “Protection from Falling”, which states, “Where a first floor window cill height is less than 800mm above the floor level suitable guarding should be provided to prevent a person falling through an open window. This requirement may conflict with Regulation B1 and provision of escape windows. One way of achieving the requirement may be to provide a restricted opening device that can be easily overridden in the event of an emergency.”

If your installer is FENSA-registered he should know this. If he is not FENSA-registered, then he should have applied for Building Control inspection and approval. Either way, your installer sounds dodgy, and you should contact your local authority Building Control department for advice.